Indianapolis Has First U.S. Bikeshare Named After a Sports Team

Samantha Shankman, Skift

- Apr 11, 2014 1:06 pm

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Bikeshares across the U.S. don’t compete with one another since locals and visitors will use whichever is in their destination, but creative branding could impact its pickup within the local community.

— Samantha Shankman

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Indianapolis is the latest U.S. city to roll out a bikeshare program but it has something that no other program does — branding that matches the city’s basketball team, the Indiana Pacers.

The Pacers Bikeshare will launch in late April with 250 bikes and 24 stations dispersed throughout downtown Indianapolis and the city’s bike path.

The bikes are bright yellow with the Indiana Pacers name prominently placed on the bikes’ handle bars and body. And unlike any bikeshare worldwide, there are basketballs adorning the back wheels.

The bikes’ unique look is due to one man: Herbert Simon. Simon is owner of the Indiana Pacers and his foundation Herbert Simon Family Foundation is one of the founding partners for the bikeshare program.

According to a Visit Indy spokesperson, the name was chosen to highlight one example of how the Pacers, or Simon in particular, supports the Indianapolis community,